Windows Activation

New Member

Just got a new PC--Dell with Vista Basic. I immediately downloaded and installed Windows 7. I did not activate Vista before installing Win 7. I have tried several times to activate Win 7 but it will not accept the product key number on my PC. I get a message to the effect that the key is not valid.

Is there a way to address this that doesn't involve uninstalling Win 7, and reinstalling Vista in order to activate it before reinstalling Win 7?

Hi Guys first post here, I had a similar problem after a clean install from MS. Downloaded win7 and they sent me a key by email, used that exact number and it came up as invalid key. I will try the above method when I finish work and report back.